Abstract

Orientation: This article addresses the interplay between individual agency and contextual
factors in contemporary career development processes. In light of the prominence of the
former in the contemporary scholarly debate, we present a case for a more comprehensive
approach by heeding the latter as well.

Research purpose: The main aim of this article was to provide a definition and conceptualisation
of career shocks, as well as an agenda for future research on this topic.

Motivation for the study: Most of the contemporary careers literature has overemphasised the
role of individual agency in career development. While certainly important, we argue that we
also need to address the role of context – in this case, career shocks – in order to gain a fuller
appreciation of career development processes.

Main conclusions and implications: We provide a definition of career shocks based on the
existing literature related to chance events and turnover. In addition, we provide an overview
of attributes of career shocks, potentially valuable theoretical perspectives and key issues for
future research.

Contribution: This article brings together several existing streams of literature related to
career shocks and provides an integrative definition and conceptualisation. We hope that this
will ignite future research on an important but often overlooked topic.